Staff Reporter :
The Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Tuesday cancelled three more hajj flights for visa complications of pilgrims after two days of smooth operation.
The three flights were BG 1051, BG 3039 and BG 3041, said General Manager, Public Relations Officer of Biman.
So far, the national flag carrier has cancelled a total of 17 flights, for which about 9,700 pilgrims could not go to Mecca, he said.
Till 9am of Tuesday, Biman transported 22,801 pilgrims, while Saudi Arabian Airlines carried 25,400 to Saudi Arabia. Civil Aviation Ministry sources said Biman was compelled to cancel the flights as the Hajj agencies failed to collect visas and air tickets of the pilgrims in time.
“Every year they make the same mistakes making performance of Hajj by many pilgrims uncertain,” he added.
As many as 127,198 pilgrims from Bangladesh are to perform the annual Hajj this year. Biman and Saudi Arabian Airlines will carry equal number of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
The maiden pre-Hajj flight started on July 24. The final date of pre-Hajj flight is August 26.
Hajj, the largest religious congregation of the Muslims, and Eid-ul-Azha are likely to be held in the first week of September.
